High‐water mark fee structure in variable annuities
提出一种新型高水位线费用结构，通过均值-方差分析和兼容风险厌恶集衡量，发现该结构能提升可变年金的市场吸引力，为更多投保人带来更高福利。
Abstract This paper proposes a novel high‐water mark fee structure and investigates its impact on the marketability of variable annuities. To evaluate the welfare effects of holding a variable annuity, we adopt mean‐variance analysis. By also examining the welfare effects of holding two alternative investments, we introduce a quantitative measure, namely a compatible set of risk aversions, to assess the marketability of the variable annuity under a certain fee structure. Comparing the compatible sets and the welfare effects of holding the variable annuity under the high‐water mark fee structure with those under a constant and a state‐dependent fee structure, we find that the high‐water mark fee structure improves the variable annuity's marketability in two aspects: First, it makes the variable annuity preferable to the alternative investments for a broader range of policyholders. Second, when the variable annuity is preferred over the alternative investments, it produces the highest welfare for the policyholder.